Word: showbiz
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...more than ever recognizable to Americans as the work of, well, Americans -- Hispanic Americans. Paintings and music that spring from Latin sources are being filtered through a north-of-the-border sensibility. As in La Bamba: its story of Chicano life is told through myths of immigrant struggle and showbiz martyrdom that were born in the U.S.A. Increasingly, too, Hispanic artists and entertainers are courting the mass audience in English. Many of the nation's Latino theaters perform in English only. "I don't want to be a good Hispanic theater," says Max Ferra, Artistic Director of Manhattan's predominantly...
...count most for Hispanics still in the barrios. There are misgivings too about the kind of treatment Hispanic life will get from big art galleries and entertainment conglomerates that can grind whole cultures into merchandise. Does anyone really need a sitcom with characters named Juan and Maria mouthing standard showbiz punch lines? The trick for Hispanic talents these days is to get to the market fresh, not canned...
...born in?" Gorbachev asked him. 1940). Walter Cronkite would have looked more mature, Dan Rather more aggressive (though when he feels the need to, Rather can play respectful). But Brokaw can be fast on his feet, and was well prepared. His usual interviewing style, honed in years of showbiz chatter on the Today show, is to be friendly, ingratiating, nonthreatening. In Moscow, Brokaw was so uncharacteristically solemn that he sometimes covered his mouth as if determined not to grin back at Gorbachev's smiles. Brokaw's behavior was remarkably self-effacing, and for the occasion quite appropriate...
What accounts for the surprising impact of the televangelists? In part, showbiz flair: outsize personalities, sermons carefully shaped around themes that pull audience response, dramatic personal stories of life-changing events, and toe-tapping music. But broader cultural forces are surely at work. "Everybody thinks the TV preacher is doing a number on people," says Armstrong, "but it's the viewer with his hand on the dial who controls the system." People who hope TV Gospel will fade when today's stars are gone, says Armstrong, "do not understand that the real key is grass-roots people, dying for personal...
...gingerly with an old pal, croaks a song or two and returns without warning to the attic of reverie. Look behind the electrified hair and the cunningly garbled consonants of Murphy's Buckwheat, a resurrection of the character from the Our Gang comedies, and you will find a showbiz paradigm: the exploitation of a smile and a conspicuous lack of talent into big bucks. Whites are not immune either. He can metamorphose into Gumby, the '50s cartoon character who has somehow aged into a carping Catskills comic; or a late-show pitchman, peddling Galactic Prophylactics and the Funeral...